'This is like Christmas for car people'

Macungie's popular Das Awkscht Fescht, originally created as a one-year event, has been around five decades.

August 03, 2013|By Patrick Lester, Of The Morning Call

When all of those head-turning, eyebrow-raising cars roll into Macungie each August, Gordon Istenes predictably takes his place among autoheads from across the East Coast and beyond.

Where else can you relive automotive history under the shade of a towering tree while playing the make-model-and-vintage guessing game and talking engines, horsepower and antique restoration?

"It's like Christmas for car people," said the 73-year-old Pottstown man.

So there he was at Macungie Memorial Park on Friday morning, along with son Arthur and other automobile junkies, taking in classics and antiques as they paraded into the annual Das Awkscht Fescht, Macungie's signature summer event that put the tiny borough on the map beginning in the 1960s.

From the spot he's taken up at the festival for the past 15 or so years, Istenes and his car-loving crew could see Studebakers, Desotos, Crossleys, classic Chrysler New Yorkers, '30s-era Chevys, you name it.

This year marks the 50th anniversary edition of a show whose founders had only a one-time festival in mind when they began planning it as a swimming pool fundraiser for the 40-acre park back in 1963. Das Awkscht Fescht is a Pennsylvania Dutch phrase meaning August Festival.

"It's the biggest and nicest," said Istenes, who speaks from authority, having been to more than 600 car shows over the past 45 years. He even has his own 20-car barn where he stores his collection of 15 cars, which include a '67 Lincoln Continental convertible and his son's 1969 Dodge Charger, a replica of the Dukes of Hazard's General Lee. "If we get any more, we'll be committed," Istenes said.

The car festival began in 1964, the brainchild of George Wendling, the owner of a car restoration company, and businessman LeRoy Schaeffer, who got together with Dave Bausch, who later became Lehigh County's executive, to organize a fundraiser.

The idea was to generate money to pay for the Macungie Memorial Park swimming pool.

"When we started to get it together, we got together with a number of people who run a Hershey show to see what they thought would be a good thing to do at a car show," Bausch said this week.

"They said we needed to have entertainment for the whole family. Car guys would be busy all day, but wives and kids were bored to tears."

To this day, the event has featured activities for the whole family, including music, crafts, jugglers, musicians and clowns and Saturday night fireworks. A toy show is held at nearby Eyer Middle School.

The first show drew about 10,000 people and raised about $5,500. In recent years, attendance typically has hit around 40,000 and the park raises an average of around $70,000. That money has gone toward a variety of expenses, including roof replacements and pool restorations at the park.

Visitors to the show know all about restorations and the cost of an addictive hobby.

Istenes' son Arthur, who was raised on car shows, has sunk about $45,000 into his replica General Lee, which drew an audience during a Friday morning pit stop at a Wawa store.

"It's in your blood," Arthur Istenes said of the inherited car love.

For Pete and Paula Radford, collecting is a relatively new hobby. They had been going to car shows for about a decade when the thought occurred to Paula that it was time to get a classic car of her own. Eight years later, they have amassed 10 show-ready Crossleys, including a rare one made with a steel roof.

Pete Radford, a mechanic by trade, said about 87,000 Crossleys were manufactured between 1939 and 1952. This weekend, he was showing off his 1942 model, which can reach speeds up to about 43 mph.

"I said, I'm tired of looking at other people's cars. I want one of my own," Paula Radford said. "People do not remember Crossleys. So I feel like I'm doing a public service" by showing them off.

Near the park entrance, Waylon Chestnut was spending his morning photographing each car arriving Friday morning for a South Carolina company that sells merchandise with car photos.

He summed up the allure of an event he called one of the best of its kind.

"You get to look at all these beautiful cars. Man, I'm telling you," Chestnut, 42, said. "It's the big motors, the speed, the smell of burning rubber …"

When: Das Awkscht Fescht continues Sunday. Gates open at 6 a.m. for walk-in visitors and show cars enter after 7:30 a.m. The flea market continues through dusk and the arts and crafts vendors operate until 9 p.m. Entertainment continues until 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Where: Macungie Memorial Park, 50 N. Poplar St., Macungie.

Highlights: Sunday will feature an antique and special interest car club show with 34 car clubs and more than 1,000 vintage vehicles. An antique auto flea market will include more than 600 vendors selling and trading parts and accessories.